The Income Tax Department has almost concluded its searches at the homes of Karnataka Energy Minister D K Shivakumar, his relatives and friends across the state as well as in Delhi, a senior official said yesterday.
“Our search and seizure operations against the minister, his relatives and friends have almost ended, pending formalities, as collection and documentation of seized material takes time,” a senior I-T Department official said.
Admitting that the operation was a marathon exercise in terms of time (80 hours), locations (67) and officials involved (300), the officer said the department’s Investigation Wing would decide when to go public with the details.
Raids began at the minister’s residence in Bengaluru’s Kanakapura area, and South Delhi at 7am on August 2 and continued till yesterday afternoon, with the Central Reserve Police Force providing security to the raiding teams.
Simultaneously, searches were conducted at the homes of the minister’s brother D K Suresh at Ramanagara in Bengaluru Rural district, Shivakumar’s father-in-law Thimmaiah in Mysuru, brother-in-law’s house and even his astrologer Dwarakanath Guruji in Bengaluru.
Raids were also conducted on the business associates of the minister in Bengaluru and Hassan in the state.
The teams early Wednesday raided the deluxe suite of the minister at the Eagleton Resort at Bidadi, about 40km from here, where he was hosting 44 Congress lawmakers from Gujarat.
The legislators flew into Bengaluru on July 29 from Ahmedabad to avoid poaching attempts by the rival Bharatiya Janata Party ahead of the August 8 Rajya Sabha polls in the western state.